My Nonprofit Reviews

Camp Unalayee was one of the great experiences of my childhood, teens and adulthood. The impact it had on my life and the foundation it provided is profound and hard to put into words.

Plus it was a lot of fun. I went the first time when I was 10 and cried for a week - tried to go home. After that I didn't want to leave and went back every summer for 10 years for all 3 sessions, became a CIT at 17 and a counselor at 18. I went back last summer after 30 years of being away, and in a virtual world of texting and computer relationships realized these kinds of wilderness experiences are more important than ever.

Our youth is so far removed from the "real" world with their iPhones and IMing and instantaneous virtual/visual stimulation and computer graphics that to travel to the Trinity Alps is truly like a journey into another era.

And from what I saw last summer, it is having the same positive impact on teens in the 21st century as it did on us oldsters from the 1970s - it opens your eyes to a world that is fast disappearing, and the skills it gives you translate into everyday life, giving new confidence, awareness, appreciation and compassion.

The wilderness experience forces kids to draw on reserves of strength they never realized they possessed - which will carry on into other areas of life when faced with situations that call for that same strength. Except after Camp they will know that strength is there, and bring it forth.

I cannot emphasize enough my deep appreciation for Camp Unalayee and how it has helped me through life to this day.

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